Advancing Neighborhood Sustainability

Piloting Pedestrian Streets in Pike/Pine

The Capitol Hill EcoDistrict is leading a community engagement and planning process – in partnership with other community groups and City departments – about piloting pedestrian-only streets in Pike/Pine this August.Click here for updates on the project!

Photo credit: Tim Durkan

These pilots would close down a few blocks of Pike and/or 10th and/or 11th to cars – and open them up to people and positive, community-led programming. If they go well, they could be recurring (monthly or weekly) in 2016.

We want streets where:

Everyone feels safe and welcome

We celebrate the LGBTQ and artistic culture and history of the neighborhood

The street is a platform for building community

There are no gates, no fences, no drinking in the street

Garage, delivery, and emergency vehicle access is maintained

We are considering testing this out on two or three late Friday and/or Saturday nights in August to address challenges like:

Nightlife and crowd management/mitigation

Violence, including gaybashing and sexual harassment

Public urination, defecation, vomiting and vandalism

We are also looking at one 2nd Thursday Artwalk evening and one Sunday daytime as community building opportunities.

Other neighborhoods have had success with the strategy of limiting vehicle access at certain times to make more space for people on foot and improve the feel of the street. However, we recognize that there are also concerns about this approach and want to make sure they are heard.

Give us your input! [survey now closed].

For more information or if you’d like to talk further, please contact Alex at ABrennan@capitolhillhousing.org